Blending Modern Furniture with Cottage Style

Country Living's expert answers your questions about decorating.

May 31, 2005

Our 1930s cottage home is furnished with a mix of country and contemporary furnishings. We want to add a pair of upholstered chairs in the living room. The chairs we like are modern, '30s-era Greta Garbo club chairs. The back of the chairs curve so that the pair would sit next to each other with the taller sides inward, lower sides outward. The fabric is bolstered in curved ribs on the back. We want to cover these chairs in an English garden-style fabric. Will they fit in with our other furnishings? We think the mix will be fun and fresh. These chairs typically come with a modern fabric -- the style with large circles and squares in the print. Going country fabric is really stepping out. What do you think?

Rachel Layman

Dear Rachel,

"Cottage" can have many looks. There are cottages by the sea, in the woods, even cozy urban cottages, but whatever your "cottage" style, the mood is warm.

There is definitely room for some modern elements to mingle in a mostly country setting. A farmhouse can have an air of worldliness when Le Corbusier chairs are introduced in basic linen, while a spare Shaker-style bedroom takes on a whole other attitude when a whimsical shag carpet is put down on the floor. Other unexpected pairings that will still work in a "country cottage" are industrial chairs with wooden farm tables, black leather and chrome upholstery tacks on a traditional wingback or a barkcloth-clad Sheraton-style settee. I don't know how many times I have heard people with incredible style say, "If you love it, it will fit in."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Introducing atypical glam chairs into your cottage decor can make it all the more interesting. Your choice of English garden-style fabric will also soften the drama and sweeten the scene.

In the world of furniture, I have fallen in love with many chairs. Perhaps it's because the fabric sways me more than wood and metal. Chairs have attitude. Big old wing chairs protect; slipper chairs invite swanky posturing; cushy club chairs warrant snuggling. Unlike a large sofa, chairs are also versatile and movable. Regardless of the style of chair, mixing and matching is very popular -- and very "cottage." So, go with your intuition and enjoy the pretty journey.